Vancouver –
Melanie Porter’s life has been a bit busier than standard since Thursday evening.
On Sunday, the Quesnel, B.C. resident squeezed CTV Information Vancouver into what has develop into a busy schedule of interviews in latest days.
“I did not count on it to go so viral,” she mentioned, earlier than launching into one other retelling of the shock encounter she had on her porch that night.
“I am simply sitting outdoors, having a cigarette, and it was simply tremendous darkish out in my entrance yard,” Porter mentioned.
“I am on my cellular phone. My cellular phone’s actually vivid. And simply sort of, within the nook of my eye, I see one thing darkish with some eyes. I figured it was simply one of many native cats within the neighbourhood. And when it got here into my peripheral imaginative and prescient, (it was) one thing greater. I appeared over, and it was a bear.”
The bear was already fairly shut. Too shut for Porter to rigorously transfer away. She opted to stay nonetheless and attempt to keep calm.
The animal took a go searching, gave Porter a sniff, and licked her hand.
“I used to be simply so shocked,” she mentioned. “I used to be shocked that it was a bear, to start with, and that it got here as much as me and I used to be simply in shock, dumbfounded.”
“After which he went in for a second lick, however his mouth was a bit extra open, and I used to be like, ‘Oh no. Nope. Not occurring.'”
She pulled her hand nearer to her physique, and that appeared to startle the bear. It backed up and stood up on its hind legs.
At that time, she snapped a photograph, which she later realized was really a really brief video.
“My cellphone was already on and out and it was like, ‘No person’s going to consider that this occurred,'” Porter mentioned. “It was simply, ‘OK, I’ll take an image, and if he comes again and I die, we a minimum of know who the wrongdoer is.'”
After all, Porter did not die. She shared the video on-line, and shortly was receiving interview requests from native newspapers and TV stations.
The message she’d wish to share together with her sudden notoriety? Be bear conscious.
“I ought to have really most likely paid consideration to my environment,” she mentioned. “It may have turned out so much worse. Simply because this little bear was pleasant, does not imply that they are all pleasant. Simply be conscious of your environment.”
